This invention relates in general to devices and methods for teaching early parenthood responsibilities and, in particular, to an infant simulator system useful in programs for teaching teen age persons the realities and rigors of early parenthood.
Teen age pregnancy and single parent infant rearing are increasing problems. Teen age parents surveyed give such reasons for becoming pregnant as "babies are so cute", "I wanted attention", "I needed someone to love and love me back". Romantic feelings toward having a baby of one's own almost never include an understanding of the burdens of caring for a baby, the loss of sleep, loss of freedom, etc. Attempts in school parenting and life experience classes are rarely successful in convincing students that baby care is a full time, very restricting, occupation.
Some schools have attempted to demonstrate the care needs of a baby by having students carry a sack of flour, an egg or a plant wherever they go. While somewhat restrictive and requiring some care, these programs are less than successful. In particular, they do not demonstrate the continuous, unpredictable demands, the isolation from peers and the sleep interruptions that necessarily result from caring for a baby.
Dolls that can be "fed" from a bottle, then "wet" so as to require that a diaper be changed, such as described by Kelley in U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,644, and Burks in U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,948 have been available in a variety of degrees of complexity. These dolls are not useful in teaching baby care problems, since the feeding and wetting cycle is under control of the user, who can feed and change the doll at convenient times and does not learn that required feeding and changing of very young babies generally occurs at inconvenient times and places.
Dolls that can making crying sounds are known, such as that described by wexler in U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,338. This doll includes a manual switch to start the crying sound, then the user attempts to determine which of several actions, such as feeding, diaper changing, back patting will operate a random switch to turn off the crying sound. However, this doll, while interesting as a plaything, does not simulate an actual baby since crying only begins when the switch is actuated and not on a day and night random schedule as with an actual baby.
Other dolls having manually actuated crying, talking or wetting actions are described by Lyons et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,338 and Berman et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,950.
These prior dolls do not truly simulate the needs of an actual baby which can occur at random intervals at any time of day or night and require care for more than a few minutes at a time, such as feeding over 20-30 minutes at a time. Further, these prior dolls do not require gentle handling of the dolls and do not indicate if rough handling has occurred.
In order to more accurately simulate actual baby care, a number of accessories and a variety of equipment, such as diaper bags, car seats, strollers, etc. should be included. The prior art does not suggest such a complete simulation and training system.
Furthermore, the prior programs do not expose the participants to the special needs of drug dependent babies (so-called "crack babies") and fetal alcohol syndrome babies which are becoming an increasing problem. These babies have smaller than normal sizes and weights and different behavior patterns, including trembling bodies, a high-pitched tremulous cry and slow response to care. Exposure to such babies may help convince pregnant young women to avoid drugs and alcohol.
Thus there is a continuing need for improved training systems for simulating early parenthood, including realistic dolls and related equipment for teaching teenagers, both boys and girls, of the problems inherent in early, single-parent, parenthood which would aid in deterring early pregnancies. Such a system would cause unwed teenagers to carefully think it over before becoming pregnant.